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[CookinFlat6]

That picture looks worse than it actually is. Here is the onboard video. You can see that Rosberg was performing a steering correction.



Compare that to Schumacher vs Villeneuve here, which looks much more deliberate:



Rosberg is still at fault and should still be penalised, but it is nowhere near as deliberate as that still picture makes it look.

It doesnt matter, Nico was never gonna make the pass, he left his nose in, many are saying this is what Senna and Lewis have done before - 'jump out the way or we crash' but Lewis has alsways got penalised when there was a crash, so that dumbarse excuse doesnt wash, when you add the implications of the title chase and Nicos admittance of not avoiding a crash to prove a point, only the bitterest of trolls give Nico the benefit of doubt

doesnt matter if it didnt look as obvious as MS style - the intent was the same

[LiamCatterson]

The FIA are not expected to launch a retrospective investigation into Nico Rosberg’s crash with Lewis Hamilton in the Belgian GP despite the Englishman’s claim his team-mate confessed to causing the collision during a Mercedes debrief.

According to Hamilton, his solitary title rival Rosberg “basically said he did it on purpose” when the two drivers were called to account by their Mercedes team after the race.

However, sources close to the governing body have revealed the FIA regard the incident as closed after the Spa stewards adjudged the second-lap crash, in which Rosberg punctured Hamilton's W05, as a racing incident.

Full article: http://www1.skysports.com/f1/report/124 ... ash-at-spa" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Why would he get penalised? He's a German.... Seriously, this is just stupid from the FIA, it is like if I confessed attempted murder and the cops don't arrest me...Plus, some people need to go to Specsavers because Nico could've backed out and he even validated that point but nooope.

[What's Burning?]

The point is that the car shouldn't have been there, he was never going to make that pass.

In Q, Lewis car was 12 kph faster than Nico in the speed trap. The fact that the race was entirely dry meant Nico would have never won. Ricciardo and Bottas were both considerably faster than Nico as well. No coincidence as to the faces on the podium.

Nico out of desperation, to prove a point, lack of skill, premeditation, calculated risk, whatever one chooses to call it... Was never going to make that pass stick.

[stonemonkey]

The point is that the car shouldn't have been there, he was never going to make that pass.

He didn't see any risk.

[geetface9]

having turned in on his teammate?
quote]

Where did he turn in on his teammate? Sticking your nose where it doesn't belong and turning in are two different things

Did you look at the picture right below his post.

Yeah but that picture isn't even where the contact happened.

having turned in on his teammate?

Where did he turn in on his teammate? Sticking your nose where it doesn't belong and turning in are two different things

where did he turn into his teammate?? right about the same time HE TURNED IN FOR THE CORNER except there was a shiny big F1 car on the racing line

Even blonds have to turn to get round corners geet

SINCE WHEN?!

[geetface9]

The point is that the car shouldn't have been there, he was never going to make that pass.

In Q, Lewis car was 12 kph faster than Nico in the speed trap. The fact that the race was entirely dry meant Nico would have never won. Ricciardo and Bottas were both considerably faster than Nico as well. No coincidence as to the faces on the podium.

Nico out of desperation, to prove a point, lack of skill, premeditation, calculated risk, whatever one chooses to call it... Was never going to make that pass stick.

You're right that the pass wasn't going to stick. Nico would have still been in for a fight at victory. The blatant disregard for even acknowledging a scenario in which nico would have won is just astounding

[What's Burning?]

The point is that the car shouldn't have been there, he was never going to make that pass.

In Q, Lewis car was 12 kph faster than Nico in the speed trap. The fact that the race was entirely dry meant Nico would have never won. Ricciardo and Bottas were both considerably faster than Nico as well. No coincidence as to the faces on the podium.

Nico out of desperation, to prove a point, lack of skill, premeditation, calculated risk, whatever one chooses to call it... Was never going to make that pass stick.

You're right that the pass wasn't going to stick. Nico would have still been in for a fight at victory. The blatant disregard for even acknowledging a scenario in which nico would have won is just astounding

Nico hasn't been able to pass Lewis all season. I'm comfortably leading the pool game for a reason.

[CookinFlat6]

Nico got overtaken by more drivers on merit in that race than Lewis has all season

[LiamCatterson]

You know what, with the FIA unlikely to investigate the collision and Rosberg confessing to deliberately doing so, if Lewis were in Nico's shoes, just watch Lewis get a race ban or a 100+ second penalty for it...The FIA do make me laugh

[overboost]

Agree hammer, it looks about as bad as it gets for Rosberg and Merc.

Who does Rosberg think he is??
He's a second rate driver trying to mix it with the big boys by cheating.

A shameful day for F1 imo.

This is the hard part for Hamilton to accept. Rosberg is a good driver but not at the top of the sport yet he is finding a way (not really breaking rules but pushing the limits) to out qualify and out point Hamilton who considers himself the best of the best.

Hamilton is a better racer, he needs to out qualify Rosberg and drive his own race but Rosberg just seems to be one step ahead of Hamilton every time. What other tricks does he have in store?

At some point Hamilton is going to pop.

[What's Burning?]

why does he need to out qualify a guy that gets beat to the line before turn one by two guys that started behind him?

[racechick]

Hamilton put paid to not beating Rosberg in quali( because of a brake issue, not an error) by getting him at the first corner. Rosberg then deliberately drove into him. Classy!
Having your brakes fail and your car spontaneously combust also aren't driving errors.

Deliberately driving into someone is breaking the rules, but if he continues to get away with it, I'm sure he will find more 'tricks'

[What's Burning?]

Took the liberty to cut and paste this from the Judge since I know some of the members are incapable of browsing there for some reason.

The Judge 13 -I decided to write this article when I thought that the video evidence was ignored in the article published yesterday.

Allow me to expand a little.

In the article it appears that two different sets of guidance on defending was conflated.

The first one is the March 2012 guidance, ahead of the season:

“A driver can make one move only to defend a position but when that driver then moves back onto the racing line to take a corner it can be construed as a second move, which is not allowed. It is a matter of deciding to what degree resuming the original line is acceptable.

“We don’t want to get into silly arguments about centimetres so we have decided the defending driver must leave at least one car width on the racing line otherwise he will be judged to have made a second move and penalised accordingly. We need to have drivers giving each other space on the track otherwise we risk dangerous collisions.”

The second one is the July 2012 memo, ironically issued in response to Rosberg’s “very marginal” sweeps across the track in Bahrain

“Any driver defending his position on a straight and before any braking area may use the full width of the track during his first move provided no significant portion of the car attempting to pass is alongside his. Whilst defending in this way the driver may not leave the track without justifiable reason.“

“For the avoidance of doubt, if any part of the front wing of the car attempting to pass is alongside the rear wheel of the car in front this will be deemed to be a ‘significant portion’.“

What (as far as I’m aware) has never been made explicit, is whether the test applied to defending on the straight, “any part of the front wing…alongside the rear wheel“, also applies to defending a corner ?

In any event, even if we are to accept that defending drivers have to be aware of a couple of inches overlap going in to a corner, and compromise their line accordingly – something that simply does not happen at the moment – Hamilton left a huge amount of room around the first turn Rosberg that was alongside.

The collision took place it the middle of the track just before the turn reversed.

Take a look at this angle from the Sky coverage, and watch frame by frame:



Rosberg entered the corner about a third of the way alongside Hamilton, and gradually fell back throughout the corner to the point of the collision where the overlap was a matter of inches.

From the beginning of the overtake, up until the moment Rosberg hit Hamilton, there was at least a car width outside not only Hamilton’s car, but also outside of Rosberg’s. At this point Rosberg had both the room and the ability to avoid collision, while Hamilton would have required ESP to do so.

Had Rosberg “held his line“, as Toto Wolff later put it, on the edge of the track, then I would agree with your interpretation of the strict rules. As he held his line in the middle of the track, I cannot see how he is not to blame for the collision.

IMO, both the strict Whiting guidance you claim (however ridiculous it might be, and however often in practice the stewards choose to ignore it), and common racing practice – let alone Rosberg’s own words on the matter – make it clear who was responsible.

“Nico felt he needed to hold his line,” said Wolff. “He needed to make a point. He didn’t give in. He thought it was for Lewis to leave him space and that Lewis didn’t leave him space.“(BBC)

But on the evidence, Hamilton had left Rosberg space, up until the point of the collision – when there was still a car’s width outside of Rosberg’s car, let alone outside of Hamilton’s.

If Rosberg was trying to prove a point, he chose a very strange way to do so. What is the message ? If you go into a corner with me behind you, I reserve the right to clip your rear tyre ?

Had Rosberg held his position further alongside Hamilton into the next turn, then it is conceivable that Hamilton might have been guilty of edging him off the track, or responsible for a collision. Though at that point, Rosberg would have been on the inside of the next turn.

That, however, is not what happened. From the video is seems either he was backing out of the manoeuvre, or that Hamilton was pulling away from him.

[The Second Coming]

"Rosberg Facing Consequences - Wolff" is how one headline read this morning. Seems to me the clash made the Mercedes AMG Management realize the "golden one" isn't so squeaky clean after all. Monaco was looked upon internally as spectacle but now that Nico's behavior is causing WCC points, it's a very different picture. The "Consequences" will be one to watch. Toto has used strong language in the last 24 hours, including "If Lewis has said that it's going to be a slap on the wrist, and that there's going to be no consequence, then he's not aware of what consequences we can implement." Hmm...there are these code of conduct clauses in modern-day contracts. Watch this space!

Is it me or is Rosberg becoming bad for the brand in Mercedes eyes?

Such fun!

[ang4f1]

Hamilton put paid to not beating Rosberg in quali( because of a brake issue, not an error) by getting him at the first corner. Rosberg then deliberately drove into him. Classy!
Having your brakes fail and your car spontaneously combust also aren't driving errors.

Deliberately driving into someone is breaking the rules, but if he continues to get away with it, I'm sure he will find more 'tricks'

That is the problem....Lewis doesn't play dirty, so Nico has a win win situation. He can cheat & get away with it, but Lewis won't stoop to that level, he shouldn't need to, Lewis is obviously the far better driver. EJ seemed to think it might be a good idea...but LH seems to get penalties even it's a 50/50 situation. In Monaco after Nico's 'mistake' the driver steward was very vocal...& said he had noted what Lewis had said re he could understand Senna etc.

I don't know if it has already been mentioned that Lewis overshot his slot yesterday ..& had to reverse...then quickly get the car ready for the start..& still took the lead into turn one....what was going on there..?